So, reading all these blogs written by all these amazing folks has really got me thinking.....I need to continue start my journey to being as creative as I can possibly be.
Growing up, I had a wild imagination. I made things, jewelry, perfume (not my best work). I wrote poetry and short stories. I read all the time (still do) and loved nothing more than going places in my mind I'd never been to and knew I probably never would. Then I grew up.
I realized you had to work hard, make a living, pay your bills, eat, sleep and then do it all over again. It's not that I suddenly thought, "Oh well, responsibility=creative". It's not that at all...I just let life get in the way I suppose.
I've poked and prodded my creative self here and there-I taught myself to knit and crochet, I've refinished a few pieces of furniture, I've written poetry pretty regularly, I've made a few interesting pieces of jewelry, I made the masquerade mask I wore for my birthday party last week and then there was the two years or so where I made and sold gift baskets filled with my own bath gels, lotions, soaps, lip balm, etc.....but I just fill kind of empty because I'm not really doing anything regularly.
My husband, Rik has his art studio on the basement floor of the house and I have the upstairs bonus room set up just for me. It's currently home to hundreds of Christmas decorations (yes my tree is still up and the lights are still on the house) scattered all over the floor and my yarn collection pushed into each corner for safe-keeping. It's like a Christmas graveyard decorated with skeins of yarn. I really feel badly about not doing anything to get things back in order up there!
For the first time in my life, I've become a sedentary being. I get home from work and I sit. I fix our dinner or we grab something and then I do nothing but get on the computer or watch television. What happened to the days of old when I refused to even turn ON the tube because it was such a huge waste of my time? It's like all the energy (creative and otherwise) has just been zapped out of me. This blog is the closest thing to creative that I can get right now it seems.
I think I'm in the dumps. I need a kick start or a jolt or a jarring or something...inspiration would be welcome at this point too.
So, here it is....I'm going to go on record here and say that I have decided this will be added to my New Year's Resolution list:
Shannon's 2010 New Year's Resolution List (thus far):
1) To keep my mouth shut more often.
2) To be creative in some way each day.
There, I feel better because I've now made it official. I'm going to do my level best to post some pictures of my projects to come just to keep me honest!
So, recently I've decided to do a better job recognizing my strengths...which I've also found inevitably leads you straight to your failures when you're of an analytical (not pessimistic) mind (which I like to think I am).
Tonight, I had a revelation. I need to talk less. I need to heed the words of all my elementary school teachers marking up my report cards year after year with comments like, "Shannon is a joy to have in my class when she is not talking to her neighbors" or the more to-the-point, "Shannon talks too much".
I'm realizing more and more that being open and forth-coming (an open-book) is not necessarily a strength. Sure, it makes you personable and people enjoy talking to you because you don't seem snooty or snobby, but some times (more often than not I've found recently), it's just better to keep your mouth shut. That seems to be where I run into trouble. For example...
At no time is it ever a good idea to share with a co-worker (or two) the fact that your doctor had to give you your medicine in suppository form because you were ralphing too hard to keep even the smallest sips of water in your tummy. Nor is it ever a good idea to describe your projectile vomiting episode that took place behind the power supply box of the local hospital to your new, weak-stomached boss just so she doesn't think you were "faking it" to get a few extra days off around the holidays. It is also not a good idea to talk to a new employee on the floor and make "that's what she said" jokes after something they say just because you think it's hilarious. They most likely do not. I've also found that making conversation with your AVP should never end in discussing those little tags on the back of men's dress shirts that all the mean kids at school hatefully called "fag tags". Especially when he's talking about wearing one of those shirts.
I could go on here, but I think recounting one days events is enough to validate my need for privacy and self-restraint. I'm going to go on record here and say that my 2010, New Year's Resolution is to be just a little more reserved for the remaining 11 plus months than I have been the past 12 hours.
Sheesh.
